E.G. Bowman celebrates 50 years of success

Rough Notes, Oct 2003 by Pillsbury, Dennis H

Putting policyholders first helps build a loyal clientele

Fifty years ago, Ernesta G. Procope formed E.G. Bowman Company, Inc., in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York, to provide insurance services to this underserved community. Operating out of a storefront, the agency initially provided auto and homeowners coverage to residents of this predominately African-American community.

Thanks to her energetic entrepreneurship, the agency grew and prospered, but by the middle of the 1960s that growth was being hampered by a limited marketing territory and by insurance company reluctance to write business in the area. In 1966, fearing riots, insurers cancelled 90 of the agency's homeowners clients in one day. "This wasn't a neighborhood at risk," Ernesta comments. "These were well-built, owner-occupied brownstones."

Ernesta's response was typical for her. She didn't give up. She fought for her clients. She went to the top and buttonholed New York Governor Nelson D. Rockefeller demanding a solution. Her efforts led to New York being the first state to enact FAIR (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements) Plan legislation. "As a result of our efforts, 26 states have adopted FAIR Plan legislation," she adds. At the same time, Ernesta also hired limousines to bring insurance executives into the neighborhood to show them that the properties in Bedford-Stuyvesant were valuable and insurable. She succeeded in finding a company to write the risks.

Towards the end of the '60s decade, the agency began to add commercial lines to its repertoire. "It was a natural progression for us," John Procope, chairman, says. "We added loss control services in order to compete effectively for commercial business, bringing loss control and safety engineering experts into the agency. One of our first commercial accounts was the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corp., a community development program started by Robert F. Kennedy.

"Unfortunately, we found that it was difficult for us to expand beyond our community. We started calling on large corporations but had a difficult time getting in the door. Our first break came when we landed some of the business for PepsiCo in the early '70s," John remembers. "We made a cold presentation to the risk manager and convinced him we could do the job. We started out with a small piece of their business and it grew from there. They're still one of our clients today."

Another major account followed when the agency was named the broker of record for the Northern Pipeline construction project. The project was an enormous undertaking. The Pipeline was a gas pipeline 42 inches in diameter and 800 miles long. It went through five states and connected to the Alaska Pipeline in Calgary, Canada.

By the time the '70s were coming to a close, E.G. Bowman had succeeded in landing 25 Fortune 500 accounts and had grown to some 40 employees.

Despite these successes, there remained many closed doors. The Bedford-Stuyvesant address proved detrimental to the agency's efforts to integrate into the mainstream. So, in 1979, the agency moved to one of the most famous streets in America and the capital of the financial world-Wall Street-and it's still there today.

"Most of the steps we had to take to become involved in corporate America were expensive," John adds. "In order to prove ourselves, we had to do things that were more expensive. Pioneers have always had to pay more. We figured that if we were really going to get involved, Wall Street would be a door opener, and that made it prudent from a marketing standpoint." The agency became the first major African-American-owned business on Wall Street.

The move proved propitious as additional Fortune 500 companies entered the Bowman fold. Their impressive portfolio of clients includes IBM, Avon Products, Philip Morris Companies, Heinz, Pfizer, General Motors, and AOL/Time Warner. Prestigious local accounts also came on board, including Dime and Apple Savings Banks, Inner-City Broadcasting, Tiffany & Co., and Con Edison.

John adds that it was "our persistence that led to the capture of these accounts. We were willing to make cold calls and would occasionally get an appointment. We were able to impress them with our services once we got in the door." He says that the large number of contacts the agency accrued over time also began to help with getting appointments. "Our address on Wall Street also allowed us to invite people in to see us when they were seeing AIG, Johnson & Higgins or other insurance entities in the area."

Meanwhile, E.G. Bowman never deserted the loyal customers who had been with the agency since its days in Brooklyn. "We have continued to insure and service the people in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community," Ernesta points out.

From music to insurance

Like others who found themselves in this business serendipitously, including this writer who was a music major at Oberlin College, Ernesta initially was not looking at an insurance career. She was an exceptional student and a piano prodigy, leading to her appearance in Carnegie Hall at the age of 13. Her plans were to become a concert pianist after finishing school, but those plans changed when she married Albin Bowman, a successful real estate developer. Albin suggested that Ernesta study insurance so she could insure his numerous properties. She attended the Pohs Institute of Insurance and received her broker's license. When Albin died in 1952, she restructured the insurance business to offer personal lines coverages and life insurance and began marketing to the local community. The next year, she founded E.G. Bowman. She also married John Procope, publisher of The New York Amsterdam News. John left that position in 1982 to devote his energies to E.G. Bowman on a full-time basis.